Charklik (Ruoqiang)
Charklik (Ruoqiang County) (若羌县) is in Tarim, in southeastern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Understand
Ruoqiang or Charklik is the probably the last or first town of significance in terms of size and population when entering or leaving this desert region to and from Qinghai province. You can’t avoid going through this town if you are doing the traditional Silk Road.
Get in
By car
Ruoqiang (Charklik) is connected by the 315 National highway (Guodao 315) from east to west. Going east (towards Qinghai) you will most likely end up in Xining which is the eastern terminus of the namesake highway, although it’s 1500 km. In the western direction, the road goes through old Silk Road towns like Qiemo (Cherchen), Hetian (Khotan) with its westernmost point at Kashgar (Kashi).
No roads go south, but if you are an intrepid traveler, the Kunlun mountain range limits Xinjiang with Tibet and you might find some jade rocks!
Highway 218 (Guodao 218) has its southern terminal at this town. Heading north, you pass through Kuerle (korla) and Wulumuqi (Urumqi)
There are several police checkpoints on these highways. And the tricky one might be going through the first checkpoint near Korla, as it is forbidden for foreigners to enter this desert area. Unless you are taking a bus directly to Ruoqiang from Korla, otherwise you have to be really lucky if you are hitchhiking and your car doesn’t get stopped. There is a chance that the police let you go if you explain to them you only want to go to Ruoqiang.
Highway 315 is prone to sandstorms and the highway sometimes just disappears.
By rail
There is no railway (2017), but construction is underway to connect this town with Korla, Golmud and Dunhuang.
By bus
There are buses from Cherchen, Korla and Golmud. From Korla costs around ¥130 (8 hours), and from Golmud costs around 230 yuan (14 hours)
Get around
See
- Loulan Museum (楼兰博物馆), Located at the southeastern corner of the intersection of Tuanjie Road and Wenhua Road. Summer: 09:30-13:00, 16:00-19:30; Winter: 10:00-13:30, 16:00-19:00. This museum holds artefacts excavated from archeological sites associated with the ancient kingdom of Loulan.
Do
Buy
Eat
Drink
Sleep
There are only three hotels permitted to take foreigners in and these are as follows:
- Loulan Hotel (from ¥300 yuan for doubles) - Longdu Hotel (doubles at ¥120) - Zhewen Hotel (from ¥200 yuan for doubles)
Connect
Go next
Highway 315 is great for hitching long distance trucks that goes back to eastern China. Just check out their plates and ask for a ride. The majority of trucks in China are subjected to maximum 2 passengers including the driver. This means if you are hitchhiking with somebody else, most likely they won’t pick you up. Trucks go to virtually any province within China. Notable ones are Shandong, Gansu, Qinghai, Henan, and Jilin.